Supercommittee Rashomon

By Ezra KleinBy Ezra KleinNovember 18, 2011

According to the supercommittee’s Democrats, the Republicans just offered a deal that paired $542.7 billion in spending cuts with $3 billion in tax increases. So the ratio of spending cuts to tax increases is approximately 180:1, and 214:1 if you count interest savings.

According to the Republicans, they offered Democrats a deal that paired $229 billion in “fees, sales and taxes” with $316 billion in spending cuts and $98 billion in interest savings. The Democrats, they say, are counting “fees and sales” as spending cuts rather than tax increases.